Adventures on the Appalachian Trail Program Is April 1

Adventures on the Appalachian Trail is the subject of a workshop April 1 at Ashland
Community and Technical College.

Ashland residents Carl "The Fireman" and Carrie "Mudfoot" Stambaugh will share their
experiences in walking 1,400 miles of the trail last year.

The Appalachian Trail is a 2,178 mile National Scenic Trail that stretches from Georgia
to Maine. Over the course of 112 days, the Stambaughs walked off a combined total
of 75 pounds and wore out four pairs of shoes.

The journey inspired them in countless ways, and they will share photographs, stories
and lessons from their journey. From the scenery to the wildlife, towns and people,
hiking the AT is more than just a walk in the woods. It's a total immersion experience
in American landscapes, history and culture.

It was important to us to experience everything the trail had to offer, the wildlife,
the scenery, the towns, its history, said Carrie. Although we had planned to hike
the whole trail, we had a limited time frame of five and one-half months, and we experienced
some set backs. Rather than rush to finish the trail, we decided to wait and complete
the last 700 miles when we have time to enjoy the experience.

Carl is an engineer with the Ashland Fire Department. A lifelong Ashland resident,
he is a partner with other firefighters in Rescue Pro, a confined space rescue services
company. When he was in the U.S. navy in his early 20s, he read a story in Backpacker
magazine about the trail and decided to walk it someday.

Carrie, a Cincinnati native, moved to Ashland in 2005 to work as a reporter for The
Independent. She is now a freelance writer and has been recently published in the
Huntington Quarterly and Kentucky Farm Bureau News. She started backpacking as a
teen and decided she would hike the AT one day, like her mother had talked about when
Carrie was a child.

Both Stambaughs are outdoors people, experienced in hiking and camping, and the trail
taught them even more. They will share tips on how to plan and prepare for a hike
on the AT whether considering a "thru" hike of the whole trail or "section" hike of
part of the trail.

Their presentation is Friday, April 1, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. The workshop
is free, but preregistration is requested through ACTC Lifelong Learning, 326-2072
or email: as_LLL@kctcs.edu.